STYLE ICON: Amal Alamuddin Clooney

By | Published October 21, 2014

A NEW STYLE ICON HAD EMERGED: I was hesitant to give Amal Alamuddin Clooney a “style icon” title when I honestly hadn’t heard of her until recently when she represented Julian Assange from Wikileaks, and then became George Clooney’s fiancée (now wife – see photos from the wedding).

And I was worried that the label might be somehow demeaning considering her incredible credentials as a human rights barrister.

But who says that you can’t be clever and fashionable? She’s clearly embracing the ladylike styles I love, which means more to me than any Kardashian, and ought to be celebrated.

So here’s a tribute to Amal Alamuddin Clooney’s fashion as we’ve seen it so far…

Why is she fabulous?

Let’s get her impressive professional credentials acknowledged before we move on.

Amal Alamuddin Clooney works as a barrister at Doughty Street Chambers in London’s Holborn area, in the legal district near Grays Inn. The firm has offices at both 10-11 and 53-54 Doughty Street.

The area is busy with law and media companies, and historically famous residents. The writer, Charles Dickens once lived at 48 Doughty Street, and wrote his classic novel, Oliver Twist here, and the location is now home to the Charles Dickens Museum.

Amal Clooney is a barrister specialising in international law, human rights, extradition and criminal law. She has represented clients in cases before the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights, as well as in domestic courts in the UK and US.

Amal also provides advice to governments and individuals on international law, and has been appointed to a number of UN commissions including as adviser to Special Envoy Kofi Annan on Syria, and as Counsel to the Inquiry launched by UN human rights rapporteur Ben Emmerson QC into the use of drones in counter-terrorism operations.

Amal is fluent in French and Arabic and has particular expertise in international criminal law and the Middle East region.

Amal Alamuddin with her client, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange

She’s been admitted to the Bar of England & Wales (Inner Temple) and New York Bar (2002), which enables her to practice internationally.

Since 2011, Amal has been involved in the repatriation of the controversial Elgin Marbles, the ownership-disputed Parthenon sculptures currently being held at the British Museum. Following her honeymoon in October 2014, she travelled with famed barrister Geoffrey Robertson QC on an invitation from the Greek government. More here.

What’s her background?

Amal Ramzi Alamuddin was born on February 3, 1978 in Beirut, Lebanon, and has joint British-Lebanese citizenship. At the time of her wedding this year, she was 36.

When Amal was two years old, the Lebanese Civil War (1975 to 1990) was waging. The Alamuddin family moved to London and settled in Gerrards Cross, a village in Buckinghamshire, England, just outside the M25 loop, on the border of Greater London.

A postcard of Beirut, Lebanon, where Amal Alamuddin was born

Family

Her father, Ramzi Alamuddin, is a retired professor of business studies at the American University of Beirut, who is from Baakline, a suburb of Beirut

Her mother, Baria (née Miknass) is the foreign editor of the Pan-Arab newspaper al-Hayat, and is from from Tripoli in Lebanon

She has three siblings: one sister, Tala, and two half-brothers, Samer and Ziad, from her father’s first marriage.

Religion

Her father is Druze (a quasi-Muslim sect in Lebanon that is part of the Shia Islam denomination of Islam)